From the Desk of Michael Budkie, SAEN’s Executive Director

Animal experimentation is
a huge issue. It’s so big that we really have no accurate idea of how
many animals are victimized every year in the 1100 labs that perform
animal experiments in the U.S. Tens of thousands of animal die every day
– one at a time.

It is impossible to make sense of this issue. Protocols, inspection
reports, animal use reports, grant applications, journal articles, etc.
– this issue is comprised of a sea of paper. When you spend your days
and nights wading through these documents, you become an expert, whether
you really want to or not, an expert in pain and suffering.

In the roughly 20 years that I’ve been an animal advocate, I have
worked almost exclusively on the animal experimentation issue. I’ve read
tens of thousands of pages of inspection reports, research protocols,
and health care records for dogs, cats, goats, sheep, rabbits, rats,
mice, primates, and countless other species. Dealing with all of this
suffering, greed, and death tends to rob you of your emotions. You
separate yourself from the pain – the pain of the animals – and your
own. You start to function almost like the staff of animal laboratories.
If you think in terms of the individual lives lost, it is far too
painful.

Possibly the most common result of experimentation and confinement in
the laboratory, at least for primates, is insanity. The laboratory
environment is so artificial, so utterly contradictory to virtually
every aspect of what is normal behavior for a primate, that insanity is
almost inevitable. One such laboratory, where primates have lost their
minds, is the University of Minnesota. Documents from this facility
reveal very clearly what these monkeys endure. On 8/9/05, primate 05GP20
is listed as “Temp was up due to primate jumping back and forth wildly.”
On 8/23/05, primate #312E shows evidence of self-mutilation: “did bite
knee after observation.” Primate #45C on 3/21/06 is listed as “extremely
thin, body condition is poor, severe alopecia . . . bruising on top of
left ankle.” Monkey #45D on 11/15/05 is described: “. . . ripping hair
from the armpit area and chewing on the fur, each time he would grab a
tuft of fur he would vocalize.” Primate #25b was overdosed on 9/14/04
and was observed 11/15/05 “ . . . ripping hair from the armpit area and
chewing on the fur, each time he would grab a tuft of hair he would
vocalize.” Two separate primates are described this way. How many more
are behaving like this without being noticed?

These terms describe lives of suffering, days of agony. The primates
have little to look forward to other than the addictive drugs that at
least temporarily remove them from reality.

Sometimes, when you least expect it, something reaches out and grabs
you. It’s not what you wanted to happen, and there may not be anything
particularly different about the information, but it touches you – and
you just can’t let go.

“NHP was observed by LACT ripping hair from the armpit area and
chewing on the fur, each time he would grab a tuft of hair he would
vocalize.”

The picture that this sentence creates in my mind is so clear that it
is inescapable. The psychic agony of this monkey is so abject, so pure,
so utter that it can drown your soul.

The only rational reason that any human being could have for
immersion in this world of cruelty is to end it. When I read about a
puppy that has drowned in a floor drain (Michigan State University), a
primate that was dissected while still alive (Southwest Foundation for
Biomedical Research), or a female sheep that died with two rotting lambs
inside her womb (North Dakota State University), these things are at the
same time both tragedies and truths. They are ghastly, and they are
reality.

Each one of the thousands of pieces of paper that describe the horror
of animal experimentation also describes some aspect of the life of an
individual animal. The existence of these victims is sketched out one
page at a time. They are not just statistics to be added and subtracted
-- they are individuals whose lives matter.

It is our duty to make sure that their deaths were not in vain, that
they do not go unnoticed. We must remember them and work to insure that
no more animals share their suffering. The only way to end this tidal
wave of misery is to abolish animal experimentation, once and for all.
We must have only one goal – that all laboratory cages are empty!

Your donation of $25, $50, or $100 will help us to
fight for millions of imprisoned and suffering animals.
Larger gifts of $250, $500, or $1000 will help us to
take on the 1100 laboratories that blanket the U.S. with
animal exploitation. Your continuing financial support
will make it possible for us to keep fighting the
cruelty and abuse that is intrinsic to every animal
experiment. Thank you in advance for your gift.

Dear Michael,

I, too, am shocked and saddened by the
suffering of innocent animals in
labs today. This must be exposed and ENDED.

Please accept my tax-deductible
donation to help with
this cause:

___ $25 ___ $50 ___ $100 ___$250 __
$500 ___ other

All information will be held in the
strictest confidence and is for the exclusive use of:
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW!